Amir Taheri

Amir Taheri, an Iranian-born journalist, was educated in Tehran, London and Paris. A "prominent Iranian journalist under the Shah", Taheri "now advocates regime change in Iran.

A Faked Report on Iran
"A Colour Code for Iran's Infidels" written by Taheri, a "prominent U.S. neo-conservative", was published May 19, 2006, by Canada's National Post. The story "regarding new legislation in Iran allegedly requiring Jews and other religious minorities to wear distinctive colour badges circulated around the world this weekend before it was exposed as false," Jim Lobe wrote May 22, 2006, for Inter Press Service.

"The National Post retracted the article hours after it was posted to their site, and blamed Taheri for the bad info." Eleana Benador later admitted that her PR firm, Benador Associates, had planted the false story. Reporting on the controversy, Larry Cohler-Esses wrote in The Nation:


 * Benador, who said her client [Amir Taheri] was "traveling in the Middle East," was impatient with dissections of his work. Terming accuracy with regard to Iran "a luxury," she said, "My major concern is the large picture. Is Taheri writing one or two details that are not accurate? This is a guy who is putting his life at stake." She noted that "the Iranian government has killed its opponents." Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "says he wants to destroy Israel. He says the Holocaust never happened.... As much as being accurate is important, in the end it's important to side with what's right. What's wrong is siding with the terrorists."


 * Taheri might seem to be one of Benador's biggest liabilities. In fact, he is right now the agency's proudest coup. On May 30--just days after the National Post's apology for running his false story on Iranian Jews--Taheri was one of a group of "Iraq experts" brought to the White House to consult with George W. Bush on the disastrous situation there.

Taheri's Reports

 * "A Colour Code for Iran's Infidels," National Post (Benador Associates), May 19, 2006.
 * "Iran OKs 'Nazi' Social Fabric. Yellow Label for Jews as Chilling Dress Code Echoes the Holocaust," New York Post, May 19, 2006. Subscription required.
 * Press Release: "Amir Taheri Addresses Queries About Dress Code Story," Benador Associates, May 22, 2006; Asia Times, April 23, 2006.
 * "I Stand by My Column," New York Post, May 23, 2006: "EDITORS' NOTE: The Associated Press and others have challenged Amir Taheri's account (published in The Post on Saturday) of the proposed new Iranian dress code, noting that the law does not specify badges for religious minorities. Below is his reply." Subscription required.

Other Debunked Taheri Claims
Taheri's 1989 book, Nest of Spies, was debunked for citing "nonexistent sources," fabricating "nonexistent substance in cases where the sources existed," and distorting the facts "beyond recognition," wrote Larry Cohler-Esses in The Nation. The book described the rule and fall of the Shah in Iran. 

In 2005, Taheri claimed that Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Javad Zarif, had taken part in the 1979 hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. "This allegation is false," San Francisco State University professor Dwight Simpson wrote to the New York Post (which had published a Taheri column making the claim). "On November 4, 1979 [the day of the seizure], Javad Zarif was in San Francisco. He was then a graduate student in the Department of International Relations of San Francisco State University. He was my student, and he served also as my teaching assistant." 

Professional Chronology
According to his Benador Associates' profile, Taheri was/has been:
 * Middle East editor for the London Sunday Times (between 1980 and 1984).
 * Writer for the daily Times.
 * Contributor to The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, and the Daily Mail among other leading British publications.
 * Executive editor-in-chief of Kayhan, Iran's main daily newspaper (between 1972-1979).
 * Columnist for the pan-Arab daily Asharq Alawsat and its sister daily Arab News (since 1987).
 * Contributor to the International Herald Tribune (since 1980).
 * Writer for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Newsday, and The Washington Post.
 * Editorial writer for the German daily Die Welt (between 1989 and 1995).
 * Writer "for other publications including Der Spiegel, Die Zeit and Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung in Germany, La Repubblica in Italy, L'Express, Politique Internationale and Le Nouvel Observateur in France, and El Mundo in Spain."
 * Current contributor to the German weekly Focus.

Also
 * editor of Politique Internationale, a French Quarterly (source)

Profiles

 * Amir Taheri, Benador Associates.
 * Amir Taheri in the Wikipedia.

Articles & Commentary

 * Taylor Marsh, "Has Bush's Iran War Propaganda Begun?" and "The Iranian Badge Story Disappears... sort of," TaylorMarsh.com, May 19, 2006.
 * "ADL Statement on Unconfirmed Reports of Iranian 'Dress Code'," Anti-Defamation League / U.S. Newswire, May 19, 2006.
 * Chris Wattie, "Experts say report of badges for Jews in Iran is untrue," National Post (Canada), May 19, 2006.
 * Kurt Nimmo, "Iran Badge Story: More Neocon Propaganda," Another Day in the Empire, May 19, 2006; uruknet, May 21, 2006.
 * "Jews Must Wear Yellow," New York Post, May 20, 2006. Subscription required.
 * Juan Cole, "Another Fraud on Iran: No Legislation on Dress of Religious Minorities," Informed Comment, May 20, 2006.
 * Nasser Karimi, "Iranian Law Would Encourage Islamic Dress. Iranian lawmakers consider law encouraging women to wear Islamic clothing," Associated Press (CBS News), May 20, 2006.
 * Niles Lathem and Andy Soltis, "Fourth Reich. Iran Law Labels Jews," New York Post, May 20, 2006. Subscription required.
 * Lenin, "Latest Hitler: how lies become news," Lenin's Tomb, May 20, 2006.
 * Parinoosh Arami, "Iran dress code law does not target minorities - MPs," Reuters, May 21, 2006.
 * Chris Michaud, "Iran's 'Nazi' Dress Code Unraveling," New York Post, May 21, 2006.
 * "Iran's mullahs deny allegations on Jews," Iran News, May 21, 2006.
 * goinsouth, "Dial Up Your Bullshit Detectors: Neocon DisInfo Campaign on Iran," MyLeftWing.com, May 21, 2006.
 * Gareth Smyth, "Iran denies 'mischievous' allegations on Jews," Financial Times (UK), May 21, 2006. Registration required.
 * London Yank, "PsyOps: Walking Back the Cat," Daily Kos, May 21, 2006.
 * Jim Henley, "Anatomy of a Smear" and "Taheri-ng It Up AGAIN!" Unqualified Offerings, May 22, 2006.
 * Jim Lobe, "Iran Target of Apparent Disinformation Ploy," Inter Press Service, May 22, 2006; also posted by CorpWatch and AntiWar.com.
 * Taylor Marsh, "Who started the Iranian badge story&mdash;updated," Firedoglake, May 22, 2006, cross-posted at Taylor Marsh; "More on the Debunked Iranian Badge Story," May 22, 2006.
 * Eli Lake, "A Vote of Thanks Is Expressed By Iranian Jews," New York Sun, May 22, 2006.
 * Joshua Holland, "Bogus Iran story in keeping with Next Hitler™ framework," AlterNet, May 23, 2006.
 * Opinion: "Correction: Iran story discredited," St. Petersburg Times (Florida), May 23, 2006.
 * Joseph Cannon, "When you want war&mdash;call Benador," Cannonfire, May 23, 2006.
 * Bob Fertik, "Will Elena Benador Start World War III?" uruknet, May 23, 2006.
 * Guy Dinmore, "US hails the Iranian people but not their 'lunatic' leaders," Financial Times (UK), May 23, 2006. Please note that this article has been sanitized since it originally carried the following on May 22nd: "The report originated in an opinion piece by Amir Taheri, a prominent Iranian journalist under the Shah who now advocates regime change from London. ..."
 * Xymphora, "Stinkin' yellow badges and Israel's Nuremberg Race Law," uruknet, May 23, 2006.
 * Kurt Nimmo, "Iran Zonar: 'Real Sign of a Disinformation Operation'," Another Day in the Empire, May 23, 2006.
 * Taylor Marsh, "Iranian Badge Story Follow Up," May 24, 2006.
 * "Newspaper apologizes for anti-Iran report. Tehran summons envoy to explain Canadian leader's remarks," Reuters Canada (CNN), May 24, 2006.
 * "Iran summons Venner over PM's remarks," Reuters Canada, May 24, 2006.
 * Jim Lobe, "Yellow journalism and chicken hawks," Inter Press Service (Asia Times), May 24, 2006.
 * Justin Raimondo, "Fake but Accurate. The War Party fabrication factory is revving up its motor again. Destination: Tehran," AntiWar.com, May 24, 2006.
 * Tom Porteous, "Iranian Dress: Lies Wide Open," Agence Global (pej.org), May 24, 2006.
 * Opinion: "A gaffe, or deliberate disinfo?" Tehran Times/MNA (Iran), May 24, 2006.
 * Ryan McGreal, "The Same Garden Path," Raise the Hammer, May 24, 2006.
 * paul2port, "Walk Back the Cat: Blame Canada," Daily Kos, May 24, 2006.
 * Taylor Marsh, "Taheri Invited to the White House," May 31, 2006; "Taheri Not Trusted by Experts, June 1, 2006.
 * Larry Cohler-Esses, "Bunkum From Benador," The Nation, June 14, 2006.